Once we have a curriculum the question arises as to what to do with it. How do we use it? Patently it is not something to skim through and then put away in the garage or loft. It is a working document, that is, a document to work with. It is a reference work, that is, something to refer to regularly. It must inform our thinking about our educational practice in relation to children and youth. It must help us to stay on track over the years ahead.

It is not a rigid prescription, but general guidance. It does leave the classroom practitioner with a good deal of room to manoeuvre. It cannot be detailed because it must be capable of almost infinite adaptation to allow for the answering of particular, of local needs.

One of the main uses of a curriculum is that of an outline or framework from which to derive syllabi. The word syllabus is used in the plural deliberately, because it is possible to derive many different types of syllabi from the one curriculum, just as many global and regional plans have been derived from the Tablets of the Divine Plan, each with their separate emphases but all with the same fundamental and underlying features. This is dealt with more fully in the next section.

Another feature of the flexibility of the curriculum is the variety of ways through which it can be delivered, and how the broad guidelines of the curriculum may inform the educational content of all manner of "delivery systems".

A sample list of delivery systems is given below:

* Community Schools

* Children’s and Youth Classes

* Children’s and Youth Institutes

* Clubs and Youth Activities, e.g. Peace Clubs

* Programmes at National and Regional Events

* Residential Schools

* Correspondence Courses, e.g. Thomas Breakwell College

* With Parents and Relatives at Home

* The In-Home Study Programme

* Children and Youth Magazines

* Service Projects

Some of these systems are classroom-based and regular, others are sporadic and less formal, still others are solitary or confined to a small number of individuals, yet others are centred around activities and may reach out to the wider community beyond the Faith. All can and should be informed by the National Bahá’í Curriculum, depending upon the type of syllabus derived for them, otherwise these various systems are isolated, unconnected and limited where they could be linked, mutually supportive and collectively contributing to the overall advancement of the Bahá’í community toward goals clearly defined in the Writings.

A further use to which a curriculum may be put is as a gauge or standard against which to measure the health and progress of the various elements of the Bahá’í education system - to ensure relevance and balance and co-ordination in all educational programmes, whether long-running or intermittent. Without a curriculum no such an overview would be possible.

It would be an interesting and useful exercise for a Bahá’í class teacher to take the framework table in section eight and, for the age-range they teach, mark each one of their lessons off in the appropriate boxes over one year and observe where certain strands are emphasised and others neglected. They could then determine how balanced their year’s course had been and adjust it accordingly for the following year. This practice is called curriculum auditing.

It would be possible, with a National Curriculum in place, to conduct a wider curriculum audit - to look at all the above delivery systems and work out the total educational delivery by subject for one year and see where we are repeating certain things, on a national basis, and where we are leaving gaps. With such information at its disposal, a National Assembly, a national or regional committee, could redirect and refine the educational content to a more balanced and co-ordinated distribution countrywide.

In general terms, the curriculum should be used with common sense, neither ignored nor implemented in some fanatical or over-zealous manner. It should always be used in the light of the Writings and the continuing guidance of the Universal House of Justice. Finally, it should be carried out with the involvement and co-operation of both arms of the administration - National and Local Assemblies on the one hand, and Counsellors, Auxiliary Board Members and their Assistants on the other. Without the input of the mystical element of divine institutions our endeavours are not linked to the Covenant and will therefore not succeed.